Friday 4th November – Kiev, Ukraine (Group 1)

• Arrive at your convenience into Kiev – the capital city of Ukraine which is well connected from many countries
• For those who arrive early we can arrange an optional visit to a shooting range or to drive a tank, or both!
• Pre-tour meeting will be held at the lobby of our centrally based hotel at 6:00pm to discuss tour itinerary and to meet your fellow travellers and YPT guide.
• Go out for dinner and drinks at Palata No 6, one of our favourite places and recently featured in the list of “10 places to drink in before you die”. Be sure to try the shot requiring you to wear a straitjacket and be set on fire.
• Overnight in hotel.

Saturday 5th November – Chernobyl Exclusion Zone – Kiev Morning

• Wake up nice and early and board our comfortable AC minibus to the Chernobyl exclusion zone. On the way we will stop for breakfast at a well stocked gas station as well as watch a documentary of the Chernobyl disaster. The journey to the first checkpoint will take around two hours.
• On arrival, we go through the entry procedure and processing of our permits. This can take anywhere from fifteen minutes to one hour.
• Visit the village Zalissya, the main square of the town of Chernobyl, “Fukushima” memorial, Statue to Lenin, the abandoned Synagogue and the only active church in the zone.

Afternoon

• Lunch at the Workers’ Café (no produce is grown onsite).
• Visit the Dock, local shops, Monument to the Firefighters, exposition of the remotely operated machines, hills of the buried village Kopachi, rustic kindergarten, panoramic angle of NPPA and existing sarcophagus, the construction site of the new sarcophagus, the Stone Road sign of Pripyat, Bridge of Death, Lenin Street, the main square of Pripyat, supermarket, Amusement Park, School #3 (with gas masks), and the Olympic swimming pool.
• Visit Duga 3, nicknamed the “Russian Woodpecker,” a Soviet over-the-horizon radar at its base Chernobyl-2.
• We will also try our best to visit some sights we cannot mention online.
• After a long day of exploring we board our bus for the drive back to Kiev.
• Arrive in the capital at 6:00pm and refresh in your hotel room before meeting up and heading out for dinner and drinks
• Overnight in Kiev hotel.

Sunday 6th November – Kiev – Odessa Morning

• Load our bags onto the bus and hit the road to Southern Ukraine with a breakfast stop on the way.
• Our first stop will be one of the most incredible sights of Ukraine – a recently-decommissioned Soviet ICBM base located in the wilderness of the Ukrainian steppe. After a simple touch of the red button, the missiles from this top-secret Soviet base would have easily reached New York, Chicago, London or Paris within 30 minutes and the world as we know it would have ended!
• We’ll complete a fully guided tour of the base and even descend into the original control room and have the chance to set off the launch sequence that would have launched the rockets.
• Around the base are hundreds of tons of discarded Soviet military equipment from missiles and tanks to fighter jets and anti aircraft weapons. You are free to film and photograph whatever you like.

Afternoon

• Lunch of traditional Ukrainian dumplings and tea at the base
• Continue our way to Odessa, arriving in the late evening to check into our hotel located within the Arkadia district.
• Dinner in one of the many restaurants surrounding the hotel.
• Overnight in Odessa.

Monday 7th November – Odessa – Tiraspol, Transnistria (Group 2)

• Group 1 members: tour concludes – YPT is able to arrange post-tour accommodation or advice for ongoing transportation
• Group 2 members: meet YPT tour guide and group at hotel lobby
• Meet our local Odessan guide who will take us away from the charming side of the city and show us the dark side of this city.
• This is the ‘Odessa Depression’ tour, prepare for abandoned Stalin era factories, abandoned Soviet brothels and nightclubs and the killing ground of hundreds of victims of the Odessa mafia.
• After seeing the dark underbelly of Odessa, we will give you the chance to explore this famous Black Sea city at your own pace. Downtown offers a range of attractions ranging from the famous Potemkin Steps that were a prominent feature in the famous Sergei Eisenstein silent film Battleship Potemkin. You may wander the lively and charming pedestrian street called Deribavoskaya which is a great place to find great street food, souvenirs, and see local street artists. There is also a quirky smuggling museum that focuses on crime and smuggling in this port city through the centuries up to the current day.

Afternoon

• After lunch we’ll meet back at the hotel to collect our bags and link up with our fixers who will transfer us to Tiraspol, Capital of the breakaway republic of Transnistria.
• On arrival at the border we will cross the no man’s land between Ukraine and Transnistria which is an infamous smuggling route and we register with immigration and KGB/MGB before transferring to the local version of the Soviet Intourist Hotel. This is the quintessential Soviet experience in the region’s original tourist hotel.
• We go for dinner at a local institution and then head into the cellar of a club called ‘Mafia’ to try out some Russian style karaoke!
• Overnight in Soviet Hotel.

Tuesday 8th November – Tiraspol Morning

• For breakfast we’ll head to a great, Ukrainian restaurant in Tiraspol. Be prepared to wash away your hangover as they’re well known for handing out complimentary shots of pepper Vodka, whether it’s 9:00am or not!
• We’ll stop at the flea market in Tiraspol, here it’s possible to buy all kinds of Soviet antiques for rock bottom prices. You never know what you will find!
• We’ll then walk down the main street called October 25th street which has a billboard of former President Smirnoff: The warlord who turned president for almost twenty years. We’ll see the embassies of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the foreboding HQ of the infamous Sheriff organization and stop at a bookshop to pick up some Russian and Transnistrian nationalist paraphernalia, a mug with Putin or a fridge magnet of ICBMs firing across the atmosphere, why not?
• We’ll then stop at the impressive House of the Soviets, built in Stalinist style with a large bust of Lenin outside.

Afternoon

• We’ll mix with students at the Dolce Vita café, an inexpensive place with great buffet style food and the eatery of choice for students at nearby Tiraspol university.
• We’ll then transfer to the other end of October 25th street to see the North Korean style statue of Russian General Suvorov. Surrounding it are the flags of Russia, Transnistria and the breakaway brotherhood states of Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia.
• Have your picture taken in front of a giant crest of Transnistria featuring the hammer and sickle!
• Visit Parliament, housing one of the biggest statues of Lenin outside Russia.
• Visit the Eternal Flame Memorial complex dedicated to the Soviet-Afghan war, WW2 and the Transnistrian civil war. Check out the battle damaged T-34 monument to WW2, it’s permitted to climb on it and get an awesome photo.
• We’ll then switch it up and board an old Soviet ferry without an engine and cross the Dniester river to see how the village people live across from Tiraspol. This is an area truly lost in the USSR!
• Visit a still functioning palace of culture with an enormous head of Lenin outside, pockmarked with Kalashnikov bullet holes after Moldovan troops symbolically executed him during the civil war.
• You’ll then visit a stunning and completely self sufficient monastery complex that has to be seen to be believed. We know many of the priests there and sometimes they allow us to sample their incredible homemade wine, however, this is subject to whether the one priest with the key is available on the day.
• Pay a visit to a local store which hasn’t changed since the USSR and still uses an abacus to calculate the total. Here we’ll stock up on $3 Kvint Cognac (One of the best Cognacs in the Soviet era), $1 Vodka and local smoked cheese.
• We then head to a stunning viewpoint and Soviet obelisk that was one of the most brutal battlefields during WW2. In the Russian speaking world, it’s respect to the dead to raise a shot of Cognac or Vodka in their honour and we’ll do just that!
• Return to Tiraspol and head for dinner at 7Fridays, a Tiraspol institution!
• Afterwards we can head to one of the country’s few nightclubs and try our hand at Russian karaoke!
• Overnight in Tiraspol

Wednesday 9th November – Tiraspol – Chisinau, Moldova Morning

• After breakfast we transfer to Bender, one of Transnistria’s biggest cities and a site of fierce fighting during the civil war. We enter one of the largest outdoor markets in all of Transnistria. Guests will be able to shop and buy anything they want at very, very low prices. Also, many opportunities for old world type photos. This is a true old school, Russian market. Expect pigs heads, spices and everything imaginable for sale.
• We leave the market and continue walking down the main street until we reach the main church in the centre, well renovated and a favourite place for couples to get married. Here you can buy inexpensive Russian Orthodox jewellery and icons.
• Check out the city hall which has been left exactly as it was during the civil war and is still filled with bullet holes.
• Continue walking down the main street until we arrive at Lenin Park. We view the main fountain, the bust of Lenin before going into the local cinema which is largely unchanged since Soviet times except Mission Impossible is playing instead of Soviet propaganda.
• We continue to walk down the main street until we reach the train station, renovated and well maintained. It seems like a ghost town because only a few trains stop here, and there are almost no passengers. Besides the train station is an old Soviet train from WWII with the hammer and sickle on the front.

Afternoon

• We’ll have lunch in the town at a local café called CCCP. This is designed to create a sense of nostalgia for locals and is packed with original Soviet memorabilia and great food.
• We head to the river to check out ‘The Great October’ theme park. There are old amusement rides including bumper cars and mini ferris wheels here. A scene right out of the 1950’s, it may look abandoned but the rides are still operating and are very cheap.
• After Bender, we’ll board our bus for the short two hour journey to Chisinau, the capital of Europe’s least visited country: Moldova!
• Check into the local Soviet era hotel and head out for dinner and drinks at an incredible steakhouse.
• Overnight in Chisinau.

Thursday 10th November – Chisinau Morning

• Breakfast at hotel
• We’ll start our city walking tour of Chisinau. We’ll visit the abandoned National Hotel, see one of the most stunning monasteries in the city which was thankfully spared destruction under Communism, see the infamous city prison which has been declared a breach of human rights amongst other things.
• We’ll see the enormous World War II Memorial and climb some tanks and surface to air missiles at the Military Museum!
• Visit the local flea market, great for antiques and Soviet kitsch!

Afternoon

• After lunch, we’ll give you the chance to explore the capital city of Europe’s least visited country at your own pace. This is a great chance to visit the national museum of Moldova, walk out of town and see the brutalist architecture masterpiece that is the partially abandoned Chisinau city circus (also the first circus in the entire USSR) or see the impressive Komsomol monument from the Soviet-era.
• We head for dinner at Dublin Irish Pub, as they say you have not seen a city unless you visit its Irish pub.  For the more sophisticated they also serve fine Moldovan cuisine.
• After dinner you can either head back to the hotel for rest, or join us for a brisk stroll around the vibrant pubs and clubs of Chisinau
• Overnight in Chisinau

Friday 11th November – Chisinau – Overnight train to Bucharest Morning

• Breakfast at hotel
• Board our bus for the thirty-minute drive to Cricova Winery to see the winemaking process and to of course sample a good amount of Eastern Europe’s best wine! This is one of the most fantastic wine cellars you are ever likely to see.
• Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel have wine collections here and on display is wine liberated from Hermann Goring during the last days of WW2. Yuri Gagarin famously spent two nights getting drunk in the tunnels and claimed ‘’it was easier to get to space than to pull myself out of Cricova winery!’’.

Afternoon

• In the afternoon, you’ll have the chance to pack in any sights you wanted to see before we leave Europe’s least visited country. Perhaps visit the bustling Central Market which is a great opportunity for unique photography and to pick up some last souvenirs.
• We’ll meet up in the afternoon to grab our bags and souvenir wine and head to the station for the 4:55pm train to Bucharest. This is an old school Communist era 4-berth sleeper and still has the made in the DDR plates on some of the walls!
• During the night, we’ll pass border control and the train will be lifted off the tracks to change wheel gauge
• Overnight on the sleeper train.

Saturday 12th November – Bucharest, Romania (Group 3) Morning

• Early morning arrival in Bucharest (depending on customs).
• Check into the hotel for a short rest.
• Group 2 members: tour concludes – YPT is able to arrange post-tour accommodation or advice for ongoing transportation
• Group 3 members: meet YPT tour guide and group at hotel lobby
• Meet our local Romanian guide for a day tour of Ceausescu’s Bucharest! No trip to Romania would be worth its salt unless we went and looked at everything and anything Nicolae Ceausescu related, the don of Eastern Bloc extreme. We will do a local walking tour, seeing all the must-see sites from “revolutionary” times such as the enormous Palace of the Parliament, see where the Communist regime went down in flames on the bullet riddled streets around Revolutionary Square, see the churches that avoided Communist destruction by being placed on wheels and slid across the city and much more.

Afternoon

• We’ll then give you the chance to explore the city at your own pace. You can use this opportunity to wander the streets of the charming old town, visit the ruins of Dracula’s palace in the centre of the city, explore the flea market near the old Russian church, view a severed arm that is said to bring you luck in one of Bucharest’s most charming churches, or you can venture out of downtown to visit the infamous Spring Palace. It was here during the decades of Communist rule, that Nicolae Ceausescu and his family lived in luxury. Preserved by the military during the violent downfall of Communism in Romania, the house looks almost the same as when the dictator and his family were in power. Expect gold plated bathrooms, gifts from Chairman Mao, and opulence like you’ve never seen!
• Dinner and fresh beer at Caru’ cu bere Restaurant
• Overnight in Bucharest

Sunday 13th November – Bucharest – Sofia, Bulgaria Morning

• After breakfast, grab supplies for our train adventure ahead.
• At 11:00am we’ll board the train to Bulgaria, passing through the Romanian countryside before crossing over the mighty Danube River. This was the site of the infamous gulags forming part of the Black Sea Canal Project in the darkest days of communist Romania.

Afternoon

• We’ll switch trains at the Bulgarian border and board a communist-era train to Sofia.
• We will arrive around 10:00pm and transfer to our nearby hotel
• Dinner, drinks and overnight in Sofia hotel.

Monday 14th November – Sofia Morning

• After breakfast, we’ll head to downtown Sofia and explore this ancient capital with remnants of many empires from the Romans to the Soviets.
• We’ll see the former Communist HQ, remains of the Roman underground, the North Korean style monument to the Red Army and the stunning Alexander Nevsky cathedral.
• We’ll explore the local flea market selling everything from Soviet medals to Nazi daggers.

Afternoon

• For lunch we’ll sample nearby Bulgarian street food and then head out of the city to the former house of the communist dictator of Bulgaria. This stunning mansion, complete with nuclear bunkers, is now the National Museum of Bulgaria and features a huge array of ancient treasures combined with wonderful communist architecture.
• Free time followed by a king’s feast in a wonderful and authentic Bulgarian restaurant tucked in a backstreet away from the tourist area.
• Overnight in Sofia.

Tuesday 15th November – Sofia – Skopje, North Macedonia Morning

• Breakfast, grab supplies and head to the bus station for the 9:00am bus to Skopje, North Macedonia. This is a smooth ride through stunning mountain scenery, and border control which is usually fast and easy.
• We’ll arrive in the mid afternoon and check into our hotel in the hills of Skopje.

Afternoon

• After getting settled, we will take a walk into town and have some Macedonian street food.
• We’ll then start our city tour of Skopje taking in the monument to Tito and the Vendetta Tower used for protection against blood feuds – an ancient violent law that still binds many people in the Balkans.
• Visit to the Mother Teresa museum before marvelling at the many gaudy statues that make up Skopje, including the centrepiece of Alexander the Great on horseback, which cost almost 10 million euro.
• Cross the ancient stone bridge into the charming Ottoman Old Town and step into a different world. This is the perfect place to pick up cheap antiques and try Turkish tea, coffee and sweets.
• We’ll see the formidable fortress of Skopje, which is stunning when illuminated at night.
• Free time to explore at your own pace before meeting up back at the hotel for a traditional Macedonian dinner.
• Overnight in Skopje.

Wednesday 16th November – Skopje – Pristina, Kosovo Morning

• After breakfast we’ll board our private minibus to Pristina, the capital city of Kosovo – one of the world’s youngest countries!
• On the way to Pristina, we will stop at Matka and take a walk along the gorge. It is labelled as the most beautiful place in North Macedonia and this credit is highly deserved! As we’re visiting in winter, we’ll mostly have the entire gorge to ourselves.

Afternoon

• Following lunch at an awesome restaurant overlooking Matka, we will continue onto Pristina.
• Check into our very comfortable private apartments at in Pristina. The apartments are run by a very hospitable Kosovan family who kept this business going even through the darkest days of the Kosovo War.
• Depending on arrival time, we’ll then head downtown and check out the fascinating Ethnographic Museum, detailing life in a traditional Kosovar home in centuries gone by.
• We’ll then visit the museum of Kosovo with discarded artillery and weapons left over from the war. Usually devoid of visitors, this museum details the ancient history of this land and covers their brutal fight for independence.
• Visit a local Kosovan restaurant for delicious food and to warm ourselves up with their homemade rakija!
• Overnight in private apartment in Pristina.

Thursday 17th November – Mitrovica – Pristina Morning

• Early wake up, breakfast and head to the bus station for the quick bus journey to Mitrovica.
• This tense and divided city was the scene of numerous bloody fights and international incidents. Divided into two parts by a river, Kosovan and Serbian, each side is like crossing into a different nation.
• We’ll arrive on the Kosovo side and grab lunch in a local restaurant, before exploring the sights on this side of the river.

Afternoon

• Cross the tense bridge, guarded by international peacekeepers, and enter the Serbian side. We will see huge political murals honouring Serb commanders, generals, and paramilitaries as well as visit a bizarre souvenir shop that sells every pro-Russian, pro-Putin and pro-Serbian thing you can imagine.
• Take a leisurely walk to the top of the town, where there is an odd communist monument with incredible views over this divided city. It’s common to catch glimpses of international Black Hawk helicopters patrolling the city.
• We cross back into the Kosovo side and catch the bus back to Pristina.
• On arrival we start our city tour of Pristina, taking in things like the Bill Clinton statue on Bill Clinton Boulevard, and stroll past the university to the Grand Hotel and UNMIK, the Skenderberg monument and the new Government Building, then the historic mosques and the tight lanes of the Old Quarter. You will see cafes, street market stalls, kids hawking cigarettes and phone cards, plus the vibrant life of Kosovo’s biggest city.
• Free time back at the hotel before we head out for a group dinner in an awesome little local restaurant, where you will be brought numerous local dishes until you can take no more!
• Overnight in Pristina.

Friday 18th November – Brod – Tirana, Albania Morning

• Wake up early to board our private bus for the extremely scenic four hour drive to Brod.
• Brod is populated by the Gorani people. The Gorani have a total population of roughly 50,000 people. They are primarily sheep and cattle herders, but also have a cartel network of dessert/sweet shops. They live in a very geographically small mountainous area of the most southern part of Kosovo, in and near the city of Dragash just south of Prizren. The Gorani have their own language, which is a Torlakian Slavic language, related to Serbian and Macedonian, with Albanian and Turkish loanwords.

Afternoon

• We will stop for lunch at the new hotel that has been built just on the outskirts of Brod.
• We take our time walking around the old village, where there are numerous chances for some great photos and some wonderful hiking routes.
• The village was heavily damaged during the Kosovo war as both Serbian troops and Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) militias operated in the area. Many homes are still ruined by artillery and NATO strikes. Some of the walls of buildings are still daubed with ‘Allahu Akbar’’, faded graffiti left by the KLA.
• Begin our trip to Tirana and check into the centrally located hotel.
• Head out in the evening for some incredible Albanian food, followed by rakija in a spinning sky bar located downtown Tirana. Doesn’t drinking grape-based moonshine while spinning in a circle at the top of one of Tirana’s tallest buildings sounds like a great idea?
• Overnight in Tirana.

Saturday 19th November – Tirana – Budva, Montenegro (Group 4) Morning

• Breakfast at the hotel
• Group 3 members: tour concludes – YPT is able to arrange post-tour accommodation or advice for ongoing transportation
• Group 4 members: meet YPT tour guide and group at hotel lobby
• Store our bags and begin an extensive city tour of Albania, we will see many relics of the communist regime, including a bizarre and foreboding pyramid that is perfect for climbing up for those who are brave enough!
• Visit the infamous House of Leaves, this was the surveillance centre that the communist authorities used to spy on the population of Albania, foreign embassies and the rare foreign tourists that dared to enter the country back then.

Afternoon

• Lunch at one of Tirana’s many great restaurants, with the option to eat in the ironic KFC that now overlooks the former home of Enver Hoxha.
• Visit to one of Tirana’s best kept secrets: a collection of hulking Soviet statues hidden beneath an alleyway. While it is not allowed to enter, as always, your YPT guide can get around it and allow you to get some great shots of Tirana’s former Lenin and Stalin monuments!
• Explore the vast former government bunkers of the Hoxha regime, this is where the running of the country would have been coordinated from in the event of an expected nuclear war and is a great insight into the advanced paranoia of the regime.
• Head back to the hotel and meet our driver for the trip to Montenegro through the mountains of Northern Albania!
• On arrival in Budva, we’ll check into our accommodation in the old town and walk along the coast to a local bikers bar for dinner and drinks.
• Overnight in Budva.

Sunday 20th November – Budva – Overnight on train to Belgrade, Serbia Morning

• Breakfast and begin a tour of the beautiful Montenegro coastlines! We will see Saint Stefan, Budva, Kotor and other little villages around the area. This really is one of the most beautiful parts of Europe but is still relatively untouched.
• We’ll see the marina sporting the super-yachts of Russian and European billionaires. We’ll be able to get very close to these incredible displays of wealth.

Afternoon

• Lunch and visit to a yard full of former Yugoslavian attack submarines and anti-aircraft guns.
• After a short hike into the hills above Kotor, we’ll head to Bar for some quick dinner, before we board the Yugoslavian-era overnight train to Belgrade.
• As this train has no dining cart, we will stack up on drinks and snacks before we depart
• Overnight on the train.

Monday 21st November – Belgrade Morning

• Early morning arrival into Belgrade and head to our hotel for the night: a former Yugoslavian cruise ship now turned into a floating hotel!
• After a rest and freshen up at the hotel we head out to explore Belgrade and join a communist tour. Find out the most interesting stories about former Yugoslavia, World War II, Tito’s life, Youth Relay Baton Movement, 90s war, NATO bombing of Serbia and Montenegro in 1999 and democratic changes at the beginning of the third millennium. Visit Museum of Yugoslav history which is also a resting place for the lifetime president of Yugoslavia, Tito.

Afternoon

• Explore such sites as the Republic Square, Bohemian Quarter, Kalemegdan Park, and the Belgrade Fortress.
• Explore the grounds of rival teams Red Star Belgrade and Partizan Belgrade, whose stadiums are covered in interesting political graffiti. Both of these teams have infamous gangs of ultras, many of whom formed ruthless paramilitary squads during the 90s wars.
• We’ll then head out to sample the delicious local cuisine. Tonight, we will go to Skadarlija – the pedestrian street through in which old Belgradian music can constantly be heard. As if the bars, restaurants, and music weren’t enough to keep us entertained on this street, it is also home to incredible artwork which adorn the blank-walled buildings on the south side.
• Stay out as late as you desire – Belgrade has many, many busy party spots
• Overnight in Belgrade.

Tuesday 22nd November – Belgrade – Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina) Morning

• After breakfast, we’ll board our private transport to the war-torn capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Sarajevo.
• The drive to Bosnia is stunning and takes in rolling mountain scenery.

Afternoon

• Arriving in the late evening, we’ll check into our accommodation downtown for a short rest before heading back out to town to warm ourselves up with traditional burek (meat pie) and local wine.
• Overnight in Sarajevo.

Wednesday 23rd November – Sarajevo Morning

• We head out and grab breakfast in Sarajevo, for coffee lovers, Bosnian coffee is incredible!
• We then meet our local guides and minibus for an excursion to the tunnel of hope, a war-damaged home with a tunnel network underneath that is now a museum and a fascinating insight into the lifeline of this city when it was under the longest siege in history.
• Visit the Serbian side of Sarajevo, complete with Ratko Mladic banners lining the streets. We continue up to the mountain that overlooks Sarajevo and provides stunning views. We then explore the bobsleigh track from the 1984 Winter Olympics, surrounded by bunkers. This eerie monument has been left to decay since the war but provides excellent urban exploration and photography opportunities. On the way we will have the chance to explore many war-damaged abandoned buildings.

Afternoon

• We head back down into Sarajevo, stopping at the spot where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was dramatically assassinated – an event which sparked the First World War – before grabbing lunch nearby.
• Begin the Sarajevo War Tour, covering sights related to siege time, such as the Sarajevo roses, Children’s memorial, Post office, Canned beef memorial, Sniper Alley, Holiday Inn Hotel. The tour will also feature personal stories from the war from the local guide.
• Free time in the evening before exploring the Ottoman-style Old Town, its markets and sampling some of the amazing Sarajevo cuisines before winding down with some drinks.
• Overnight in Sarajevo hotel.

Thursday 24th November – Sarajevo – Zagreb, Croatia Morning

• Breakfast, stock up on supplies and catch the morning bus to Zagreb. As this bus is during the daytime, we will enjoy incredible Balkan scenery as we make our way from Bosnia to Croatia.

Afternoon

• We’ll pass through many war-ravaged and forgotten towns and cities across Bosnia before we arrive in Zagreb at around 8:00pm – a perfect time to check in, wash up and head out for some food.
• We will walk from the hotel, through the Christmas Market and pick up some mulled wine and food from the fair.
• Overnight at Zagreb hotel.

Friday 25th November – Zagreb – Ljubljana, Slovenia Morning

• Wake up and enjoy a delicious Croatian breakfast! From the plethora of mouth-watering foods offered by Balkan countries, many would argue that Croatian food is amongst the best.
• As we kick off our tour of the Croatian capital, we move away from the hipster coffee shops and quaint colourful streets as we go underground to the infamous war tunnels of Zagreb.
• Located under the historic neighbourhood of Grič, the war tunnel consists of a central hall and various passageways. It was built during World War II by the infamous Fascist regime known as the Ustaše to serve both as a bomb shelter and a promenade, but following WW2, it quickly fell into disrepair and disuse.
• As the Yugoslav Wars erupted in the 1990s, the tunnel saw renewed use functioning as a shelter during the Croatian War of Independence. It later went on to host one of the first raves in Croatia.
• In 2016, the tunnel was remodelled and opened to the public, serving as a tourist attraction and hosting cultural events. There was also a museum of the bombing of Zagreb which, of course, we’ll explore.
• As we return to street level, we’ll grab a classic Balkan coffee to rest up a little.
• As this was the land from where Josip Broz ‘Tito’ was from, you’ll learn everything you need to know about life during the communist era in Croatia, the fall of Yugoslavia, and the darkest times in Croatian history that came in the 1990s.
• To see this stunning Balkan capital in all of its glory, we’ll take a funicular to the top of the city and explore the cobblestoned streets looking down over Zagreb.

Afternoon

• For those who wish to explore Zagreb at their own pace, we can give you some time to explore on your own before meeting up again in the evening for a meal of hearty Croatian food.
• For those who wish to explore with a guide, we can check out one of the more quirky museums of Europe, there’s the option to visit the unique and inherently bizarre Museum of Broken Relationships. Inside you can find everything from murder weapons to high heels stolen from a dominatrix in Amsterdam.
• After dinner, we will head to the bus station to grab some snacks and depart on the comfortable three-hour bus to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.
• After checking into our hotel, we’ll head out for some food and enjoy the local Christmas markets.
• Overnight in Ljubljana.

Saturday 26th November – Ljubljana – Budapest, Hungary (Group 5) Morning

• Group 4 members: tour concludes – YPT is able to arrange post-tour accommodation or advice for ongoing transportation
• Group 5 members: meet YPT tour guide and group at hotel lobby
• Begin the communist tour of Ljubljana in the morning to explore the one Yugoslavian country that mostly avoided the horrors of the 1990’s Yugoslav wars.

Afternoon

• Lunch in the city before we board the afternoon bus to the Hungarian capital of Budapest!
• Check into hotel and overnight in Budapest.

Sunday 27th November – Budapest Morning

• After breakfast, we’ll head to the outskirts of Budapest to Memento Park; this is where the many hulking Soviet monuments that dominated the city during communist times were dumped.
• We’ll then head back to the centre of Budapest to visit the infamous ‘Hospital in the Rock’, a bunker used as a hospital by the Nazis and later converted into a nuclear bomb shelter by the Soviets.

Afternoon

• Free time to explore Budapest at your own pace before we meet up in the evening for a hearty meal and a few drinks.
• Overnight in Budapest.

Monday 28th November – Budapest – Bratislava, Slovakia Morning

• Breakfast and board the bus at Budapest Station to begin our three hour journey to Bratislava, capital of Slovakia.
• Arrival and transfer to our accommodation and a chance for some quick R&R before we head out for some lunch.

Afternoon

• We’ll then meet our local guides who will pick us up in a communist-era Skoda and take us on an action packed tour of alternative Bratislava. Expect abandoned communist weapons factories, Soviet war monuments and Brutalist architecture, as well as a short jaunt into Austria as we step over the border.
• Return to Bratislava for dinner in a local beer hall with fantastic Slovakian food.
• Overnight in Bratislava.

Tuesday 29th November – Bratislava – Prague, Czech Republic Morning

• After breakfast, we jump on the bus from Bratislava to Prague.
• Afternoon arrival, before we transfer to our hotel in a non tourist area of Prague.

Afternoon

• We’ll enjoy some free time in Prague to rest up after a long tour before meeting in the evening for dinner and drinks in the authentic part of Prague away from the tourist crowds.
• Overnight in Prague.

Wednesday 30th November – Prague – Overnight to Krakow, Poland Morning

• Our first stop of the day will be the Museum of Communism. Located next to a casino and above a McDonald’s in what was once a nobleman’s palace, the Prague Museum of Communism recalls an era of the ever-shifting identity of Czechia that was ruled by an oppressive communist regime. Open since 2001, this incredible museum includes a statue of Lenin, a replica classroom from the era complete with eerie student mannequins, and propaganda posters that display the often-sensational imagery of the time.

Afternoon

• We’ll grab lunch before having free time to enjoy the old town of Prague
• Meetup back at the hotel for our overnight transport to Krakow, Poland.
• Overnight on bus or train.

Thursday 1st December – Krakow Morning

• Early morning arrival into Krakow. We drop our bags at the hotel before meeting our driver for a journey into one of the darkest periods of the 20th Century: the Holocaust.
• We drive to the town of Oswiecim and onward to Auschwitz Concentration Camp, the site of the biggest mass extermination of the 20th century.
• We begin with a tour of Camp One, home of the infamous ‘work makes you free’ sign, the gas chambers and crematoria, before heading to Camp 2.
• This trip lasts the whole day and is a very physically and emotionally draining experience.

Afternoon

• Head back to Krakow for free time to absorb the day’s events.
• We head out for dinner and drinks in this extremely picturesque and Christmassy town.
• Overnight in Krakow.

Friday 2nd December – Krakow – Warsaw Morning

• We take the early morning train to Warsaw and check into our hotel.
• We’ll take you on a tour of alternative Warsaw, focusing on the brutal battle that took place here in WW2 and the subsequent communist years.
• We’ll pay a visit to one of Europe’s best WW2 museums complete with Nazi and Soviet tanks, rockets, planes and artillery.

Afternoon

• Traditional Polish dinner and drinks to round off our epic adventure.
• Overnight in Warsaw

Saturday 3rd December – Warsaw

• Breakfast at hotel
• Group 5 members: tour concludes – YPT is able to arrange post-tour accommodation or advice for ongoing transportation

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